


Blood Reflections

by Black_jay



Series: Churning Waters [1]
Category: The Last of Us
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, And there was only ONE boat, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, TLOU2 spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:55:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25138042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Black_jay/pseuds/Black_jay
Summary: Abby’s eyes dart back to the burning Rattlers settlement. “I can’t leave you here in good conscience.”Ellie scoffs, then lets out a humorless laugh, almost choking on the ocean spray. “Good conscience... do either of us have that luxury?”A bitter smile warps Abby’s face. “No, I suppose not.”
Relationships: Abby & Ellie (The Last of Us), Abby & Lev (The Last of Us)
Series: Churning Waters [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1834117
Comments: 35
Kudos: 166





	Blood Reflections

**Author's Note:**

> This was just a quick thing I wrote at 3 am after I finally finished the game.
> 
> I seem to be in the minority when I say I actually quite like Abby (and no its not just because of her arms) and I know a lot of people didn't like the game because of her but I loved it, so here's this I guess.

Blood and tears drip off of Ellie’s face, mixing with the cold, angry water below. 

“Just _go!”_ She snarls, doubling over as pain shoots from her side and makes white dots dance in front of her eyes. “Just take the boat and _go._ I’m done, I- I can’t.”

Abby stands over her, wide-eyed and chest heaving, dark blood smeared across her face. She hesitates, then stumbles through the sloshing water, untying the boat from its post.

Ellie falls back, clutching her throbbing hand to her chest and licking the blood from her teeth. Pink tears run down her face and she tilts her head back, letting the salty ocean water lap at her torso and sting her wounds.

She waits for the inevitable growl of the boat's engine to signal that she can finally be alone, even if it leaves her stranded on this god-forsaken island. But it doesn't come.

She lolls her head in Abby’s direction, only to find her already staring at her. A flurry of emotions flick over Abby’s face but finally settles on utter _exhaustion_.

“Come with us.”

Ellie regards her incredulously- or as incredulously as she can manage.

Abby doesn't look like she believes what she just said either.

“Why?” she rasps, hacking up a wad of blood.

Abby’s eyes dart back to the burning Rattlers settlement. “I can’t leave you here in good conscience.”

Ellie scoffs, then lets out a humorless laugh, almost choking on the ocean spray. “Good conscience... do either of us have that luxury?”

A bitter smile warps Abby’s face. “No, I suppose not.”

On the boat, the boy- Lev she thinks she called him, groans, eyes rolling behind his closed eyelids. Abby immediately comes to hover over him, but once she deems him okay, she turns back to Ellie and somewhat reluctantly holds out a hand.

Ellie stares at the silent offer for a moment before taking it with her good hand, letting Abby haul her up. Freezing water drips off of her as she limps to her bag, slinging it across her shoulders and climbing into the boat, carefully putting distance between her and the unconscious boy.

Abby climbs in next to Lev, grabbing the pull-string for the motor and yanking it until the engine rumbles to life and the boat jerks forward.

The small motorboat rocks with the waves and ripples of the water as the burning island retreats from view, quickly being blocked by the fog. Abby quietly steers with the tiller but doesn't look like she’s paying attention to the direction they’re heading. Ellie doesn't bother asking her where they’re going. She might not know either. 

The silence would probably be tense if they weren't both so _tired._

As the adrenaline fizzes from her veins, the sharp pains in her side and missing fingers come back with vengeance and she lets out an involuntary grunt. She presses her hand to the wound on her side; it comes away red. The stitches definitely broke.

Abby watches her, blinking slowly.

Ellie dreamt about her dying every night- whenever she wasn't re-living Joel’s death, at least. But right now she can’t seem to hate the woman in front of her with the same passion. She looks beaten and _broken._ She must have gotten her braid cut off because her hair is short and choppy, blood is still steadily dripping out of her nose and staining her teeth red, she’s lost weight and muscle and her arms are lacking the definition they once had- and the boy doesn't seem to be faring much better.

Ellie pulls a Medkit out of the biggest pocket of her backpack, keeping far away from the guns and unlatching it with trembling hands. She pulls out a bottle, her eyes won’t focus so she can’t read the label but she knows the contents by heart. Miraculously, the bandages are still dry.

She could kill Abby right now, she could easily throw her overboard, she would certainly drown, but she doesn't want to. Not anymore.

Tommy would be so disappointed if he could see her now. Hell, Dina already is. Joel would be too, just for a different reason. She’s bitterly thankful that he can’t see her right now. 

Ellie unscrews the cap of the disinfectant, almost dropping it.

She holds it above the place her fingers used to be. Blood mixed with water pulses out with every beat of her heart and she can see the bone. She grimaces and picks a shard of white out of her ripped flesh.

Abby watches her but doesn't offer an apology. Good.

Ellie carefully brings the bottle up but her hand shakes so much as she tilts it that the liquid sloshes out uselessly. She curses under her breath.

“I’ll do it,” Abby says, not giving her a chance to protest and plucking the bottle out of her hand, lightly grabbing her other wrist to steady it. Ellie doesn't make a sound as she pours the liquid over it despite it hurting like a bitch. It washes the blood and sand clean of the wound and she watches it drip to the floor of the boat.

“... Thanks.”

Abby just grunts in reply and turns to Lev, pressing her hand to his forehead worriedly. He grumbles and his eyes flutter open but he doesn’t seem to focus on anything. They slowly drift to Ellie and he regards her for a moment before they slide shut again and he falls back into unconsciousness. 

Ellie turns back to the problem at hand- hah, at _hand-_ and uselessly wipes her palm on her soaking jeans before wrapping a bandage around her fingers, looping it around her thumb to keep it in place.

A particularly strong lurch of the boat has Ellie almost doubling over again as another sharp pain erupts in her side, traveling up her spine and to the base of her neck. Red stains her shirt further and she presses on the wound with a shaky hand, head beginning to swim.

“How bad is it?” Abby asks gruffly.

Ellie shrugs, lifting up her tank to examine the place she got impaled by the tree branch. Dark, almost black blood trickles from it, and a purple bruise frames it, stark against her pale skin. She roughly pulls the now useless stitches free, wincing as they tug at her flesh.

“Now's not the best time to be stitching anything up,” Abby says, a hand on the tiller. “Just wrap it and we can deal with it later.”

Ellie doesn't miss the _we._ She obeys and wraps the bandages around her stomach- it doesn't take much, somehow she’s gotten even skinnier. The blood bleeds through quickly but it’s better than nothing.

“I’m pretty sure your nose is broken,” Ellie says.

Abby snorts, then grimaces, clearly regretting it. “No shit.”

Ellie sniffs but doesn't add anything else. She doesn't think she needs to. She leans back with a sigh, staring at her bloodied reflection in the water. A low feeling of guilt curls in her stomach.

The ringing in her ears disappears, replaced by a muffled feeling and she swallows heavily, clutching tightly at the rim of the boat. She has no doubt that she’s as pale as a sheet.

“Where are we going?” She finally asks, not taking her eyes off the water.

Abby blows out a heavy breath. “Don’t know,” she admits, voice a little nasally, no doubt due to her shattered nose. “We got in touch with some fireflies- they are supposed to be stationed at Catalina Island, but that was a while ago, who knows if they’re still there.”

Ellie looks up in surprise. “Huh,” she says eloquently, and proceeds to vomit up the little contents of her stomach over the side of the boat.

“Shit,” Abby says as she dry-heaves, clutching at the cold rim of the hull so hard that her knuckles go white.

“... Sorry,” Ellie sighs, wiping her mouth with the back of her good hand. It’s ridiculous that out of everything _that's_ what she’s apologizing for. “Blood loss getting to me.”

“S’alright, as long as you don’t do it on me.”

“Shouldn't be a problem,” Ellie snorts tiredly, brushing back a few wet hairs that are dangling over her face, suddenly cold and sweaty. 

“Alright. Lead the way then.”

**Author's Note:**

> Any feedback would be greatly appreciated, I'd love to talk about the game with someone. Thanks for reading!
> 
> *Edit* Due to popular demand, I fixed the backpack problem.


End file.
